TOPEKA - Two developers vying to build and run a state-owned destination casino in Ford County each made a final pitch Thursday to a state selection panel.

Thursday

Sep 18, 2008 at 12:01 AMSep 18, 2008 at 6:00 PM

Chris Green - Harris News Service - cgreen@dailynews.net

The Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board plans to make a final decision today on which firm should receive a 15-year contract with the Kansas Lottery for the Wild West-themed complex in Ford County.

The competition boils down to Butler National Service Corp. of Olathe and Dodge City Resort and Gaming Co. of Wichita, which have proposed comparable projects overall. Consultants advising the seven-member board have predicted that each project would average $50 million in revenue and 700,000 visits a year.

But developers tried one last time to highlights points that would distinguish them in final presentations to the board.

Steve Joseph, a Wichita attorney who leads Dodge City Resort and Gaming, said his group's bid was best positioned to deliver a successful project for southwest Kansas.

He said the company's investors, with a net worth of more than $200 million, have the resources to finance the group's project, a temporary casino that will be followed by a $60.3 million permanent complex.

The group's project, while more modest initially than its competitor, includes plans for up to $32 million in add-ons once the casino hits certain revenue targets.

"We believe we have the right-size project for Dodge City today in this financial market," Joseph said.

However, Butler National President Clark Stewart said the scale and quality of his group's two-phase, $87.5 million project in northwest Dodge City would be a bigger initial draw for both gamblers and tourists.

Estimates compiled for his company show the complex drawing $70 million in revenue and 1.2 million visitors, far more than predicted by consultants advising the review board.

"We think it's real critical on the first day that this is a first-class piece," Stewart said.

Stewart also touted his firm's support among area residents, more than a dozen of which wrote letters to the board supporting Butler National's proposal.

Residents wrote that the company has stronger local ties because it's partnered with Boot Hill Museum officials, who successfully joined local leaders in lobbying the Legislature for Dodge City's chance to host a casino.

"They want us to do this job," Stewart said.

Meanwhile, Joseph tried to strike back against his rival's contention that his Dodge City Resort and Gaming's northeast location in the city wasn't ideal.

A member of Butler National's team recently suggested that visitors to a casino in that area might be turned off by smells wafting from cattle feedlots along U.S. 50.

But Joseph said residents and businesses in the area said there was no problem with a noticeable stench, development has been growing in the northeast part of town, and the area's wind conditions wouldn't transmit the smell.

"There is no smell problem in the northeast corner of Dodge City," Joseph said.

Butler National also submitted information from a construction company Thursday questioning whether their rival construction costs estimates were artificially low.

But the company continued to face questions from review board members about its ability to fund the project, despite promises of a recent $20 million infusion of cash from investors with a minority stake in the project.

Completion of both phases of the company's project will require up to $60 million in bank loans at a time when the nation's financial crisis is putting a squeeze on the availability of credit.

But Stewart said the company has a firm commitment from a bank in Kansas, which is more tied to a state's economy benefitting from higher oil, gas and grain prices than Wall Street.

"We believe we have the money" to build the casino, Stewart said.

The board is also scheduled to make a decision today on a contract for a casino in northeast Kansas. Three applicants are battling to build and manage a project in Wyandotte County.

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